New Coal Plants Endanger the Planet

No Space for New Coal

In 2015, already before the Paris Climate Agreement was signed,
Christiana Figueres, former Executive Director of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) warned that: “There is no space for new coal.” [1]

In November 2015, 197 countries agreed to do everything in their
power to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. One
month later, in December 2015, the research consortium Climate Action
Tracker [2] published a study about new coal plants to be built in the
near future [3]. This study comes to a sobering conclusion:

“Even with no new construction, emissions from coal-fired power
generation in 2030 would still be 150% higher than what is consistent
with scenarios limiting warming to below 2°C above pre-industrial
levels.”

Today, more than two years later, many companies are still building
new coal power plants. In fact, right now, 1600 new power plant units
are being planned at 850 locations worldwide [4].

Destructive Plans

Looking at the list of 120 coal companies we have compiled, you may
be surprised, because not all of them are typical coal companies.
However, these companies are either planning very large coal expansions
of more than 3,000MW each, or they are planning coal expansions in
countries that do not yet have any coal plants, such as Egypt, Malawi,
Venezuela and many more. Putting new coal plants in countries that have
never had any coal plants before creates coal dependencies for decades
to come. To be cost-effective, coal plants have to run for at least 40
years or longer. If the 120 coal companies presented here get the
funding for their destructive plans, global temperatures will go up by 4
degrees. The result would be climate hell for all of us.

Blacklist Coal Expansion Companies

What can be done to stop these new coal plants? If companies do not
get the necessary funding, they cannot put their disastrous plans into
action. Therefore, banks and investors should do the right thing and
divest the 120 coal expansion companies immediately. Our data shows
which companies plan new coal power, exactly how much and where.

Blacklisting these companies is the way to go. This means no more loans, shareholdings, bondholdings, insurance contracts.

Is China Really Reducing Coal Plants?

If you know the coal industry, you might have heard some very
encouraging messages in the past few months. In January 2017, China
announced it would cancel 104 coal plants, some of them already under
construction [5]. In May 2017, China’s National Energy Administration
stated that “28 of China’s 31 mainland provinces do not currently
have the right financial or environmental conditions to build new coal
capacity.” [6]

But, be careful: Chinese companies are already putting out their
feelers to new markets. In Pakistan, for example, 6 coal power plants
are built by Chinese companies, even though Pakistan has ample potential
for solar energy [7]. A well-informed source from Pakistan, who asked
not to be named, says that China’s coal strategy has undergone a change,
and now: “China’s CO2 is shifting to Pakistan.”

Every cancelled coal plant is a reason to celebrate, but every coal
plant being built leads us away from the 2°C Paris Climate goal and
makes us slaves to an outdated destructive technology for decades.

Who are the Companies Behind Coal Plant Expansion?

Some of the companies on the coal expansion list will probably
surprise you. It is not only utilities that are responsible for new coal
plants. Our research shows that many companies that are building new
coal plants are not known to be coal companies.

Marubeni is a Japanese general trading company which operates globally. According to its website, Marubeni is involved in “food
materials, food products, textiles, materials, pulp and paper,
chemicals, energy, metals and mineral resources, transportation
machinery, and includes offshore trading.” [8] Marubeni, however,
is also the 26th largest coal plant developer globally. The company is
the driving force behind new coal plants in Botswana, Egypt, Indonesia,
Japan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, South Africa and Vietnam.

Coal is certainly not the 1st thing that comes to mind when you hear
the name PetroVietnam. The petrol company is the 43rd largest coal plant
developer. It wants to build new coal power units of 3,600MW in
Vietnam.
ToyoInk is an especially bizarre case. The Malayan printing ink and
materials manufacturer is looking for new business models and has
decided to become active in the coal plant market [9].

Expansion Madness

The Philippines is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in
the world. Massive typhoons have shaken the country in recent year. On 8
November, 2013, typhoon Haiyan struck leaving a path of destruction. It
was one of the most intense tropical cyclones ever recorded and left
6,300 people dead. In the Philippines sources of renewable energies are
plentiful. Therefore, it would make sense develop the 12,000MW needed
from renewable sources. However, coal company are ready to fill the
energy gap with new coal plants. If these established coal companies
continue to be financed their plans will become reality, to the
detriment of the people. Already plans exist to build a gigantic coal
plant in the center area that typhoon Haiyan destroyed. This madness
must be stopped.

With coal the future looks bleak. Environmentalist, author and
founder of the divestment organization 350.org, Bill McKibben, puts it
quite bluntly: “It does not make sense to invest my retirement money in a
company whose business plan means that there won’t be an earth to
retire on.” Our future can shine bright however, if we put our money to
good use. Urgewald’s forward-looking divestment tool is a revolutionary
stepping stone on the way to such a bright future. To learn more, go to www.coalexit.org.